Wire - Wire - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Silver/Lead is the 15th studio album from musical pioneers Wire. It arrives on the 40th anniversary of their debut performance. Yet it's about as far from nostalgia as you could get. This is the sound of a uniquely addictive 21st century psychedelic post-punk. Colin Newman and Matt Simms' guitar work is alternately jagged and luminous, while bassist Graham Lewis's ear-catching lyrics are vivid yet oblique. Meanwhile, drummer Robert Grey provides a virtual masterclass in percussive minimalism. But it's how the various instruments mesh together that really counts. And Newman's production creates a sonic space in which even the smallest gesture is accorded some recognition. Highlights include the optimistic dazzle of 'Diamonds In Cups', with it's almost T. Rex-style buzz and chug, and the moody swing of 'This Time'. Elsewhere on the musical spectrum, there's the menacing widescreen grandeur of 'Playing Harp for the Fishes' and breakneck-paced guitar pop of 'Short Elevated Period'.

Wire exhibit little inclination to look back rather they remain resolutely focused on producing music which is smart, vital and defiantly modern Mind Hive is the group's first newly recorded material since 2017 's Silver/Lead That album garnered rave reviews and career best sales Yet, if Silver/Lead set the bar pretty high, Mind Hive seems to have no problem vaulting over it Be Like Them is a super angular composition, utilizing a recently rediscovered Wire lyric from 1977 Colin Newman and Matthew Simms' guitars constantly mesh and diverge, whilst the rhythm section ensures the song prowls forward with an unstoppable menace Cactused is the first of Mind Hive 's pop moments The vocal is wide eyed and wired, with effects heavy guitar work creating a bright web of noise, with the song's stop/start moments providing a series of precise energy bursts Primed And Ready rides out on a tightly pulsing synth sequence punctuated by icy slivers of guitar This is Wire at their most compressed yet propulsive Off The Beach is another prime pop song With it's breezy, optimistic melody, and blend of electric and acoustic guitars, the song initially sees the group seemingly celebrating the joys of everyday life but things are destined to turn a shade stranger Unrepentant explores the kind of bucolic soundscape early Pink Floyd would have been proud to call their own Boasting one of the album's finest texts, the song radiates out into a shimmering sonic heat haze Shadows pulls the classic Wire trick of placing a dark and cruel lyric in a musical setting of tender beauty Never has the recounting of atrocity been so seductively pitched Oklahoma is the muscular and dramatic joker in the pack Lewis' dark vocal swims through a rich compound of guitar textures and synth tones, building into a masterclass of tension and Hung is the album's centrepiece This 8 minute excursion matches a brief

Digitally remastered edition of the British post-punk band's third album, originally released in 1979. 154 peaked at #39 in the UK Albums Chart, the highest position the band has achieved. The album is so named because the band had played 154 gigs in their career at the time of the album's . Pitchfork listed 154 as 85th best album of the 1970s. Wire's first three albums need no introduction. They are the three classic albums on which Wire's reputation is based. Moreover, they are the recordings that minted the post-punk form. This was adopted by other bands, but Wire were there first. The digipack CDs have identical tracklistings to their vinyl counterparts. These versions should be considered Wire's classic 1970s albums, pure and undiluted.